5 Things Super-Happy Couples Do Every Day

continued...

That doesn't mean, though, that you can't at least talk sexy every day, and
that's the approach that Ed and Stephanie have taken in the more than six years
they've been together.

"It's funny," says Ed, a 33-year-old San Francisco cab driver,
"because we know plenty of married couples who fight, a lot, about how
often they have sex. The wife's upset because all he ever wants to do is have
sex; the husband's upset because he doesn't think they have sex enough. But
this has never really been a problem with us, and I think it has a lot do with
the fact that we're always talking sexy to each other."

"Absolutely," says Stephanie, a 32-year-old massage therapist.
"We're always complimenting each other, tossing out fantasies, telling each
other we're hot. He gets to feel like he can have sexual feelings, and I feel
like I don't have to have sex all the time to appear attractive.

"Let's put it this way: The way I see it, sex is like chocolate cake.
After five days of eating chocolate cake, even chocolate cake doesn't taste
that great."

"Right," Ed says, "but after five days of talking about
chocolate cake?"

"That cake tastes damn good."

Eavesdrop on a conversation between Bob and Angie concerning their favorite
shared pastime.

"We are so disgusting. This is so pathetic. It's like a
sickness."

"But it makes us happy!"

"It's so stupid it makes us laugh."

"We're yelling at people. High-fiving each other."

"Look, we get a kick out of it because it's so ridiculous. It's our
guilty pleasure."

Forgive them if they seem somewhat shy, but they're merely ashamed to admit
that the daily ritual that brings such joy to their 12-year marriage is none
other than reality TV. That's right. They lived and died with Survivor.
They've adopted Big Brother. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? They do. Not
to mention TemptationIsland, The Weakest Link, The Real World,
Chains of Love, Fear Factor, The Mole (yes, really, The Mole).

"Honestly, I think we just need to be dumb for a while," says Bob,
37, a shoe designer for Reebok in Boston. "We're both very into our
careers. And when you're at work, with any job there's going to be a certain
amount of professional stress. You like to come home sometimes and, for that
lousy hour or whatever, kick back and relax."